


It's Quiet Uptown

by yikes_my_face



Series: Free! Song AU's [4]
Category: Free!
Genre: Crying, Death, Hamilton Influences, It's a sad one guys, M/M, Mourning, gun shot wound
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-29
Updated: 2016-03-29
Packaged: 2018-05-29 22:56:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6397345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yikes_my_face/pseuds/yikes_my_face
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are things so hard that we hate to even imagine them. Sometimes, what we push away becomes a reality. </p><p>(Or, Haruka and Makoto's son is shot and killed in a gun duel. The aftermath is hard.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Quiet Uptown

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by 'Stay Alive (Reprise)' and 'It's Quiet Uptown' from Hamilton. This kinda follows the other ones I've written. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Free! of Hamilton.

Haruka rushed into the office. "Where is my son?" he asked, panicked. 

The doctor looked worried. "Mr. Nanase, come in. They brought him in a half an hour ago. He lost a lot of blood on the way over-" 

Haruka ignored him. "Is he alive?" 

"Yes, but you have to understand, the bullet entered just above his him and lodged in his right arm." the medic sighed, running a hand through his hair. 

"Can I see him, please?" Haruka pleaded. 

"I'm doing everything I can, but the wound was already infected when he arrive." The doctor led him into the room, his eldest son, Toru, lying on the table.

"Toru," Haruka whispered, sitting next to his son. 

"Papa," Toru breathed. "I did exactly as you said, Papa. I held my head up high..." 

"I know, I know. Shh, I know, I know. Shh, I know you did everything just right." Haruka ran a hand through his eldest's hair. 

"Even before we got to ten, I was aiming for the sky. I was aiming for the sky!" Toru let out a little sob. 

"Shh, I know, son. I know..." Haruka hushed him. "Save your strength and stay alive..." 

"Toru!" Makoto rushed into the room, by his son's side in moments. 

"Makoto-" Haruka said, but was interrupted. 

"Is he breathing? Is he going to survive this?" Makoto asked frantically, looking over his son's wounds. "Who did this, Haruka, did you know?" He asked angrily. 

"Mama," Toru said softly, "I'm so sorry for forgetting what you taught me..." 

"My son..." Makoto whispered, holding Toru's hand tightly.

"We played piano..." Toru said quietly. 

"I taught you piano..." Makoto nodded. 

"You would put your hands on mine." Toru gave a small smile up at him. 

Makoto tried to smile through his tears. "You changed the melody every time." 

"Ha. I would always change the line." Toru began to cry. "I would always change the line-" 

"Shh, I know, I know." Makoto said softly. He held Toru closer. "Un, deuz, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf." 

Toru copied, his grip loosening. Makoto was shaking. "Good." Repeating his words, Toru tried to continue, but trailed off, his last breath escaping him. 

"Sept, huit..." Makoto whispered, shivering. 

Silence. 

A heart breaking scream. 

* * *

 

There are moments that the words don't reach. There is suffering too terrible to name. You hold your child as tight as you can, and push away the unimaginable. The moments when you're in so deep, it feels easier just to swim down. The Nanase's moved uptown, and learned to live with the unimaginable. 

 _'I spend hours in the garden...'_ Haruka thought to himself.  _'I walk alone to the store. And it's quiet uptown. I've never liked the quiet before..._

_'I take the children to the church on Sunday, the sign of the cross at the door. And I pray. That never used to happen before...'_

The towns people could only watch the family with each passing day. Mothers would tell their children, "If you see him in the street, walking by himself, talking to himself, have pity." 

_'Toru, you would like it uptown...'_

"He is working through the unimaginable." 

His hair had gone grey. He passed every day, they say he walked the length of the city. 

_'You knock me out, I'll fall apart...'_

Can you imagine? 

Haruka knelt beside Makoto one day, where his wife was sitting, holding Toru's old baby blanket. "Look at where we are. Look at where we started. I know I don't deserve you, Makoto, but hear me out. That would be enough. 

"If I could spare his life. If I could trade his life for mine, he'd be standing here right now. And you would smile, and that would be enough." He took Makoto's hands in his own. "I don't pretend to know the challenges we're facing. I know they're no replacing what we've lost, and that you need time. But I'm not afraid. I know who I married. Just let me stay here by your side. That would be enough." 

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months. Mothers began telling their children, "If you see him in the street, walking by his side, talking by his side, have pity." 

"Makoto, do you like it uptown? It's quiet uptown..." Haruka would whisper. 

"He is trying to do the unimaginable." 

People would see them walking in the park, long after dark, taking in the sights of the city. 

"Look around, look around, Makoto." Haruka whispered one night, the stars shining down on them.

"They are trying to do the unimaginable." 

There are moments that the words don't reach. There is a grace too powerful to name. We push away what we can never understand. We push away the unimaginable. 

They were standing in the garden, Haruka by Makoto's side. Makoto takes his husband's hand. 

"It's quiet uptown." He says softly. 

Forgiveness. 

Can you imagine? 

"If you see him in the street, walking by his side, talking by his side, have pity. They are going through the unimaginable." 

 

**Author's Note:**

> *Insert tears here*


End file.
